Approve fifth amendment to Agreement No. 18-223 with CommuniCare Health Centers, Inc. to add funding in the amount of $37,500, for fiscal year 2022-23 for a new contract maximum of $1,390,356; for the period of October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2023, for the provision of CalWORKs Mental Health Services. (No general fund impact) (Sullivan)

Approve fifth amendment to Agreement No. 18-223 with CommuniCare Health Centers, Inc. to add funding in the amount of $37,500, for fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 for a new contract maximum of $1,390,356; for the period of October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2023, for the provision of CalWORKs Mental Health Services.

CalWORKs is a statewide assistance program that provides support to eligible families in California.  The program consists of a comprehensive statewide employment and training program.  The employment and training program, referred to as CalWORKs Employment Services (CWES) provides services to CalWORKs families to help remove barriers to employment.  Services may include mental health services in an effort to remove barriers to employment for families and to support family stabilization through the public assistance to work transition.  The County has a mandate from the California Department of Social Services to implement mental health services for CalWORKs eligible recipients.

In 2018, as the result of a competitive selection process (see details below), Communicare Health Centers, Inc. (CCHC) was selected to provide CalWORKs mental health services to eligible families. On or about October 9, 2018, County and CCHC entered into an agreement for these services for the period October 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, with two optional extensions for FY2019-20 and FY2020-21. The County exercised both of these extensions. The agreement was then continued under a sole source procurement to March 31, 2023 (see details below).

This fifth amendment adds funding in the amount of $37,500 for fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 to continue these services while a new competitive selection process is completed. The reason for the requested additional funding is because of an increase to staffing costs to help clear Welfare-to-Work customer back-log.

A formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure these services is currently in process (details below). The Procurement Manager and Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) request approval of this fifth amendment to ensure these mandated services can continue without interruption until the RFP process can be completed and a new agreement can be negotiated and finalized.  HHSA and DGS-Procurement continue to work towards a targeted new contract start date of April 1, 2023.

Performance Measures included in this Agreement are as follows:
Performance measures were included in Agreement No. 18-223 and are not being changed by this amendment. (See Att. B. Performance Measures)

HHSA confirms CCHC has performed satisfactorily on the current agreement. Based on performance measures received by HHSA, CCHC served 98 individuals in the period of January through June 2022. Of those individuals, 12% accessed CalWORKs mental health services within 14 days and 63% of those went on to receive a follow-up visit within 14 days. For the period of July through December 2022, CCHC served an additional 22 individuals. Of those individuals, 28% accessed CalWORKs mental health services within 14 days and 64.5% of those went on to receive a follow-up visit within 14 days.

County Counsel has approved this Agreement as to form.
Department of General Services-Procurement

Services are in the process of being procured through a Request for Proposal (RFP). On November 3, 2022, an RFP was issued and the time to respond closed on January 24, 2023. There were 18,559 agencies notified; agencies are notified country-wide based upon their National Institute of Governmental Procurement (NIGP) codes. Thirty-four (34) agencies viewed the RFP and one (1) agency submitted a bid. The RFP is in the final stages of evaluation.  

Previously, on May 3, 2021, the then acting Yolo County Procurement Manager (or designee) reviewed HHSA’s request and determined that it was in the best interest of the County to renew the agreement, based on satisfactory service/reasonable prices and to avoid the interruption of County business. Factors considered included but were not limited to: continuity of care for vulnerable clients, including being co-located in two county buildings; CCHC’s specialized knowledge of County programs and CalWORKs requirements, and cost savings.  It was HHSA’s intention at the time to proceed with a competitive selection as soon as practicable.

Originally, the services were procured via an RFP issued on May 21, 2018, seeking a qualified community-based organization to provide mental health services. The RFP was open for forty-three (43) days and staff offered potential bidders an opportunity to ask questions during a Mandatory Bidders’ Conference on May 29, 2018.  Bidders were offered the opportunity to submit proposals by dropping off a paper proposal directly at HHSA.

HHSA received one proposal from this solicitation. The proposal submitted by CCHC was selected as the top choice by all members of the Review Committee and was evaluated and determined to meet all the required qualifications necessary to successfully provide these services. 

Additional information regarding the 2018 Competitive Bid Process is provided below, including a summary of the RFP evaluation criteria.

Request for Proposals (RFP) Service Requested:
CalWORKs Mental Health

Evaluation Criteria Included in RFP

Bids Received